Cockatrice

Cockatrice

Abilities

Type

Origins

Appearances

The Cockatrice is an enemy in the Castlevania series. It is a cockerel-like monster that can turn living beings to stone either by breathing on them or simply with its glare. Some variants can also swing their tails to attack.

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The cockatrice was supposed to be born from an egg laid by a chicken and incubated by a toad (a snake might be substituted in retellings). It was also said as being able to fly using a set of wings affixed to its back. Cockatrices became seen as synonymous with basilisks. A basilisk, however, is usually depicted without wings.

It was thought that a cockerel egg would birth a cockatrice, and they had the reputed ability of killing people by either looking at them, touching them, or sometimes breathing on them.

It was repeated in the late-medieval bestiaries that the weasel was the only animal that was immune to the glance of a cockatrice. It was also thought that a cockatrice would die instantly upon hearing a rooster's crow, and according to legend, having a cockatrice look itself in a mirror was one of the few sure ways to kill it.

The Cockatrice is a mythical beast, essentially a two-legged dragon with a rooster's head. In the Castlevania series it has been widely related to the Stone element, either by providing the cockatrice with a petrifying glance or breath, or by allowing the protagonist to borrow its stone-status inducing abilities.

In Circle of the Moon, the Cockatrice is a DSSattribute card representing the element of Stone. When combined with other cards, stone effects are created, such as granting a petrifying stone whip, or even allowing oneself to become stone, greatly decreasing mobility but increasing strength.

If the player was lucky enough to have acquired the card early in the game, many areas which were not supposed to be reached yet can then be accessed, as enemies can be petrified and used as stepping platforms.

If the Uranus card has been acquired, the player can summon the Cockatrice itself, which will inflict massive stone damage to all enemies onscreen.

Cockatrices only appear in the Floating Garden. While not particularly numerous, they can prove to be much more resilient to damage than previous creatures encountered so far. The recently acquired Hrunting sword can be effective against them as they are weak to Sword damage.

They move very slowly, and after every two steps they will project a petrifying beam from their eyes at an angle.

Cockatrices in Curse of Darkness are less bulky and much more agile than in previous incarnations. They run around in a similar manner as an ostrich and attack mainly by lunging and running over the player. Every once in a while they will stop on their tracks and spew a petrifying cloud, or, if the player is close enough, they may spin and lash with their tails.

They can be stolen from while they are expelling their petrifying breath, yielding $100. Their stealing window will remain open for the duration of this attack, making the only difficulty actually waiting for them to perform the move.

They are usually found alone or in pairs. A stronger version is encountered later in the Tower of Evermore, where they appear in more numerous groups.